College football's Week 11 winners and losers

Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett (16) is congratulated after a touchdown against Michigan State.

You’d say that Ohio State’s out of the College Football Playoff chase, but crazier things have happened. It’s not over, in other words, even if the Buckeyes’ road to a semifinal was made almost infinitely more difficult following last weekend’s stunning loss to Iowa.

But after OSU dismantled Michigan State 48-3 — the ugliest loss of Mark Dantonio’s tenure with the Spartans — you can at least see a team capable of playing its way back into the mix, even if the Buckeyes would need madness to ensue in the Atlantic Coast Conference, Big 12 Conference and Southeastern Conference.

That’s one way to look at the Buckeyes’ impressive Saturday. The team clearly responded to the Iowa loss, which was a positive sign, and regained some momentum heading into games against Illinois and Michigan, the rival Wolverines on the road.

Here’s another way to look at it: Ohio State is very frustrating. What other word fits a team that loses by 31 points one week and then wins by 45 points seven days later? And which performance represents the true Ohio State?

Those Playoff hopes are hanging by a thread — not dead, but definitely on life support. And if the Buckeyes do enter the postseason at 11-2 and as Big Ten Conference champions, you’ll look back at this regular season and wonder what could have been.

Here are the rest of the weekend’s winners and losers:

WINNERS

Wisconsin. Amid the questions over its strength of schedule, all Wisconsin can do is go out and take care of business and hope that 13-0 will influence the Playoff selection committee. Saturday’s 38-14 win against Iowa won’t hurt. One week after they ripped through Ohio State, the Hawkeyes were held to zero offensive touchdowns and just 66 yards of total offense by the Badgers’ stifling defense. Are you impressed?

Oklahoma State. The Cowboys maintained their shot at appearing in the Big 12 championship game by outlasting Iowa State in a 49-42 win. The defense isn’t good. But this offense, as good as it gets in the entire Football Bowl Subdivision, gives Oklahoma State a puncher’s chance against almost any team in the country. Even if they don’t finish in the top two of the Big 12, the Cowboys might play their way into a New Year’s Six bowl by winning out.

South Carolina coach Will Muschamp and the Gamecocks.

South Carolina. The Gamecocks’ 28-20 win against Florida was doubly meaningful for Will Muschamp, the Gators’ former head coach. For South Carolina, the win brings it one step closer to a significant bowl game and clinches second place in the SEC East Division. The victory was also the Gamecocks’ first against UF since 2014, when they took their fourth in five tries over the Gators.

Scott Frost. UCF moved to 9-0 with another easy win, this time against Connecticut. At the same time, Florida suffered another loss and Nebraska was humiliated by Minnesota. Both teams will be in the market for a new head coach after the end of the regular season, and both will identify Frost as a major contender for their openings. It’s good to be the second-year UCF head coach right now.

Army. The 21-16 win against Duke moved Army to 8-2, the program’s best record through 10 games since 1996. Here’s an amazing fact about the Cadets: The offense has attempted just one pass in back-to-back wins against Air Force and the Blue Devils.

LOSERS

Virginia Tech. In the span of two games, Tech has played its way out of the ACC Coastal Division race — with last week’s loss to Miami (Fla.) — and into one of the league’s second-tier bowl games. The Hokies had several chances to put away Georgia Tech but failed to capitalize in the second half, allowing the Yellow Jackets to pull ahead late to hand Justin Fuente and the Hokies their third loss on the season.

Pac-12 Conference. The league is most likely eliminated from the Playoff chase following Stanford’s win Friday night against Washington, the Huskies’ second loss on the year. No team has fewer than two losses; Stanford, now the projected winner of the North Division, has three. So there’s one conference out of the picture, which gives a little bump to the idea that the SEC can still get both Georgia and Alabama into national semifinals.

Nebraska. Following an embarrassing 54-21 loss to Minnesota and with games against Penn State and Iowa ahead, Nebraska is almost assured of its second losing season in three years and fourth in the past 14 years after not finishing below .500 once from 1962-2003. The end of the Mike Riley era has been coming since September, but losses like this will send the former Oregon State coach out the door as one of the least successful coaches in program history

Illinois. After losing 24-14 at home to Indiana, which entered the game winless in Big Ten play, Illinois has secured its place as the worst team in the West Division, which is a pretty awful thing to be.

Notre Dame. The Irish had been right in the thick of the Playoff chase, before the Hurricanes, well, blew them away. Still a good season underway for Notre Dame — a big turnaround from last year — but being so rudely dispatched from the title hunt hurts.

Tennessee. The Vols got walloped by Missouri 50-17 and currently are on a losing streak against every other team in the SEC.